If God has obviously chosen not to give us information on the afterlife how would the folks who wrote the catechism know? They don’t have any information that the rest of us don’t have. God’s going to keep the afterlife a secret for all these years and then reveal the truth to the guys writing a catechism?Well I just have to disagree with saying that reincarnation is compatible at all; the catechism literally says there is no reincarnation after death. CCC 1013 Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When “the single course of our earthly life” is completed,586 we shall not return to other earthly lives: "It is appointed for men to die once."587 There is no “reincarnation” after death.
While that was the perception of Qoholeth, the Preacher, it was his perception; later, to his Prophet, our God, ‘I AM’, spoke with his own definition of what is reality:Nothing new under the sun, as the author of Ecclesiastes said.
This new thing is God Himself, in person, becoming human, not just a teacher, not a buddha, but our God touchable; even today he gives us his flesh and blood to unite within our own, and animates his body and blood in us with his Soul and Spirit within us as it is in Heaven.Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild beasts will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
Odd, if he was not the first Buddha, where are the teachings of the prior buddhas, the “eight-fold paths”? If not the last, when the next? “Maitreya, wherever you are, it’s time to step forward and show us how it’s done.”No, it wouldn’t be something new. He was not the first Buddha, nor will he be the last, and as long as there are mental defilements such as anger, greed and delusion, the possibility of extinguishing them also exists.
Ah, but they do have information you do not have - they are passing down (even in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) what they have officially received and officially been appointed to promulgate accurately in their official offices of Apostolic Succession, so that the Knowing of Jesus, whose name in English is ‘I AM SAVING’, will be known to us today.They don’t have any information that the rest of us don’t have.
Like all things, Buddhism is impermanent. It will eventually disappear. A new Buddha will only appear after the previous iteration of Buddhism has vanished. Shakyamuni Buddha only appeared after Kasyapa Buddha’s teachings had died out.Odd, if he was not the first Buddha, where are the teachings of the prior buddhas, the “eight-fold paths”?
Correct. Each new Buddha waits until he is needed on earth.Will he? or will he wait until there is no memory on the face of the earth of a prior buddha, as the current buddha appears to have done.
Earlier it was maintained there is nothing new under the sun (claiming an affinity with Judaism) yet here it is asserted there are new buddhas, and new “need” (if there were nothing new, there would not suddenly be “need”, or there would not be “no need”; there would either “always be need” and always a buddha, or “always no need” and never a buddha.)Each new Buddha waits until he is needed on earth.
Each iteration of Buddhism is the same, it is not new. It is a re-iteration,a re-establishment of the religion.Earlier it was maintained there is nothing new under the sun (claiming an affinity with Judaism) yet here it is asserted there are new buddhas, and new “need” (if there were nothing new, there would not suddenly be “need”, or there would not be “no need”; there would either “always be need” and always a buddha, or “always no need” and never a buddha.)
The Maitreya is not yet a Buddha, he is a Bodhisattva and is waiting in the Tusita heaven. He will become a Buddha when he attains enlightenment after his next (and last) rebirth on earth.Further, where is this “waiting until he is needed buddha”? You claim he is (now in) waiting until needed; where is his waiting room? If a buddha is a human person, and he is waiting, where is he?
No need to figure it out for yourself. You have the path to follow laid out for you by Gautama Buddha. It is only those born between iterations of Buddhism who need to discover the path for themselves. You do not have to discover it; all you have to do is to follow it.Can’t see the light or walk by the light if I keep my eyes closed and try to figure out by thinking trying to be a buddha, when I should be looking.
So you @rossum are enlightened, and see all clearly, figuring nothing out; then you must realize that Jesus is the Son of God, the only God incarnate, and Gautama wrote out this explanation to you, that you must walk this narrow path following Jesus??? Did Gautama proclaim THIS LIGHT? If not, then he had not seen any light.No need to figure it out for yourself.
You do me far too much honour. The Buddha was enlightened, and it is his advice you should follow. See my post #11 in this thread for a short summary.So you @rossum are enlightened,
You are forgetting Krishna and many other gods incarnate. The concept is not unique to Christianity.… then you must realize that Jesus is the Son of God, the only God incarnate,
The Buddha said: “Love others as you love yourself” – Bhadramayakaravyakarana sutra, 91.Did Gautama proclaim THIS LIGHT?
Jesus was very probably an advanced Bodhisattva. He was one of many such who have come, and will come, into the world.Since Jesus is the Light that has come into the world,
This would mean, if Jesus equates to Krishna, that neither would be god incarnate, but wholly human alone.Buddha was not an avatar of Vishnu. This claim, especially made by Vaishnavites has been used historically to absorb Buddhists back into Hinduism.
So, this is a god incarnate? No, it merely says, “one with god”, but not God Himself.Krishna was born in prison to devout parents – Devaki and Vasudeva.
As an avatar, he played a human role, but, at the same time, was a fully realised soul – one with God.
Sri Krishna took eight principal wives and had many sons. However, his sons were unspiritual and became increasingly haughty and arrogant. It is also said, Sri Krishna took 16,100 more women whom he had rescued from Narakasura’s Palace after killing Narakasura.
Legend has it that Sri Krishna was killed by an arrow through his ankle when he was shot by a hunter, who mistook Sri Krishna for a deer. The ankle was the one area of weakness in Sri Krishna’s body. He accepted death calmly, knowing his time on earth and come to an end.
I am a Buddhist. My scriptures have a great many gods:So now you are a Hindu, and I thought you were Buddhist? or are you a Buddhist who denies Krishna as a god, an avatar of Vishnu?
One or more of those many gods could well be called Vishnu.Sakra, the ruler of the celestials, with twenty thousand gods, his followers, such as the god Chandra (the Moon), the god Surya (the Sun), the god Samantagandha (the Wind), the god Ratnaprabha, the god Avabhasaprabha, and others; further, the four great rulers of the cardinal points with thirty thousand gods in their train, viz. the great ruler Virudhaka, the great ruler Virupaksha, the great ruler Dhritarashtra, and the great ruler Vaisravana; the god Ishvara and the god Maheshvara, each followed by thirty thousand gods; further, Brahma Sahdmpati and his twelve thousand followers, the Brahmakayika gods, amongst whom Brahma Sikhin and Brahma Gyotishprabha, with the other twelve thousand Brahmakayika gods.
– Saddharmapundarika sutra, Chapter One
You are mistaken. “Love others as you love yourself” does not conflict with Catholicism, and comes from the Bhadramayakaravyakarana sutra.But everything they teach is false and conflicts with Catholicism.
Again you change your story; you said Krishna was human and a god, but now you say he was just posing a human form. Jesus, however is fully human and fully the only God, he still is fully God and fully human and always will be fully God and fully human, not a created creature like the sun or moon or wind, which will cease shining or reflecting or blowing when they disintegrate. His coming and being as such was foretold many thousands of years before he was born, along with the salvation he would bring. He was not killed by accident but as prophesied he laid down his life in sacrifice without killing a single soul (Krishna was vicious compared to your five moral rules, and his death brought life to no one - I thought you said he was a pre-buddha).My general point was that there are other claims to be a god in human form. Jesus is not unique.
What you choose to call “your own mind’s wanderings” is actually logical thinking. If after 40 years of Moses talking with God no information was provided on the afterlife than it’s quite logical to arrive at the opinion that the afterlife is something God chooses not to share. If God is unwilling to inform us of the afterlife than the folks writing the catechism have no way of knowing anything about the afterlife.Ah, but they do have information you do not have - they are passing down (even in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) what they have officially received and officially been appointed to promulgate accurately in their official offices of Apostolic Succession, so that the Knowing of Jesus, whose name in English is ‘I AM SAVING’, will be known to us today.
You are not speaking with any authority other than your own mind’s wanderings as you try to invent an imaginary reality where there are things like reincarnation. We know who the “guys writing a catechism” are, but we do not know you. We know our Shepherd’s voice; we hear Him in reading the Catechism and our Teachers.
He does choose to share, but you have closed your ears to all but your own voice:something God chooses not to share. If God is unwilling to inform us of the afterlife than the folks writing the catechism have no way of knowing anything about the afterlife.
Much has been told to those who have ears and hear, but if they refuse to hear, they do not hear and maintain they were never informed.If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has gone up into heaven except the One having come down out of heaven, the Son of Man.
Buddhist morality is very similar to Christian morality. The major difference is in the attitude to gods. In Buddhism, gods are an optional extra. In Christianity, God is not optional.None of those are,but mostly everything they teach,especially about worshiping God is incorrect.
Rossum has done an admirable job of answering most of your objections. I would just like to add that in early Buddhism, a Buddha was someone who not only attained perfection through enlightenment, but who also rediscovered the path when it had been forgotten and taught it to others. If someone today attains full enlighetnment, she is not a Buddha. In order to become a Buddha someone would have to take rebirth on earth / another planet when Buddhism is forgotten, rediscover it, attain full enlightenment and teach others.Odd, if he was not the first Buddha, where are the teachings of the prior buddhas, the “eight-fold paths”? If not the last, when the next? “Maitreya, wherever you are, it’s time to step forward and show us how it’s done.”
Will he? or will he wait until there is no memory on the face of the earth of a prior buddha, as the current buddha appears to have done.